I like eating but…

Anyone who knows me or, unfortunately, who looks at me either knows or can quickly divine that I LOVE to eat. Sí, me encanta comer. I would say that while I don’t think I have a lot of vices – don’t smoke, do drugs, don’t drink much to speak of, etc. – food would likely have to qualify as my one main one. Mealtime is usually a part of the day that I  look forward to with great anticipation and, while I’m not a huge snacker in general, during meals I like to eat and usually am not one to skimp on the amount. When going out to eat, I frankly care little about the decor and “ambience” of the restaurant but above all want one with yummy food and good portion sizes.

You can imagine, then, as a lover of Italian food, beef, ice cream and other sweets, that Argentina would likely be my version of gastronomic heaven. Indeed, this is what I had imagined as well and it was certainly a check in the plus column for me when we had considered spending this year in Argentina. However, though Argentina’s cuisine has culinary delicacies that I LOVE and will dearly miss (as my future post in “Things I will miss about Argentina” will attest to), I truly can’t say it’s all that I had dreamed and hoped it would be. In addition to the fact that we had to try to fit our eating habits and traditions into the Argentine customary ways and schedules, la cocina argentina, unfortunately, makes my list of…

…Things I will NOT miss about Argentina

4) La cocina argentina

Huh? How can you possibly HATE Argentinian food? Whoa… tranqui yanqui. It’s not like that (see above disclaimer). Instead of a long diatribe about Argentine cuisine I’ll just list and explain each typical food that I won’t miss and explain why, to me, it will be thoroughly forgotten from my fond list of memories of Argentina

1. Pizza – Whaaat? “How can you NOT like pizza?”, you say.  OK, let me admit, to be fair, that I actually have had some decent pizza here in Argentina. I’ve, in fact, eaten quite a lot of it and occasionally enjoyed it as, not surprisingly, pizza is something I can eat even if, in the end, I don’t think it’s all that great… no matter where I am. However, this being said, compared to Italian pizza – easily the best in the world – and American pizza – which isn’t nearly as good as Italian pizza but can be pretty tasty, I think – Argentine pizza is, for the most part, disgusting… to me. For one thing, they put little to no tomato sauce on their pizza, an element I think is crucial to a good pizza. Secondly, they put SO MUCH cheese on the pizza (even more than American pizza!) and the quality of the cheese isn’t great to boot. The masa (dough) is decent overall but, for some reason, every pizza needs to have exactly 8 green olives on it, one for each slice – what’s up with THAT? They do have pizzas called fugazza (no cheese) and fugazzettas (cheese) – from the Italian focaccia bread – that are literally pizzas with no sauce and smothered with onions. This one I actually find unique and tolerable but it’s an exception to the rule. Argentine pizza sucks. (Sorry, don’t mean to offend those proponents)

                                                      Una fugazzetta

2. Dulce de leche – The caramel-like thick spread. In Argentina, this is an obsession. Seriously. I just don’t get it. Don’t get me wrong, I actually do like it (though my kids hate it, believe it or not) and eat it but I can’t understand how ubiquitous it is. I mean, I’ll eat it while I’m here but just wouldn’t seek it out, particularly over anything chocolate. You can buy it in containers like Nutella (which is SO much better than Dulce de Leche) and it’s found in:

a. most of the facturas (pastries)- even when you THINK there’s nothing inside it or that it may be chocolate… you’re wrong.

b. alfajores (sandwich cookies) and some other galletitas (cookies) that kids eat.

c. cakes – even the classic birthday cake here – the chocotorta – usually has dulce de leche layers of filling… despite its deceptive name.

d. helados – It’s one of the staple flavors of ice cream here.

I mean, it’s OK and all, but does it HAVE to be in EVERYTHING sweet??? Before coming to Argentina, I only knew it as a Haagen Dazs ice cream flavor, for the most part. After I leave, I hope that’s the only way I know it once again. Hopefully by saying this I haven’t committed a crime here in Argentina!! 😉

3. Jamón y queso – Ham and cheese. OK, I don’t eat this too much in the States as it is but almost every minuta (quick, staple food) you get in Argentina, it seems, must have ham and cheese. It must be some sort of regulation here. It’s almost impossible to avoid in migas (thin, crustless, square, soft white bread sandwiches), milanesas (thin beef or chicken fried cutlets), pizzas and other typical foods. It’s not that it tastes that bad but the fact that it seems to be in EVERYTHING makes it utterly forgettable.

                                        Typical miga… con jamón y queso, of course

4. Dulce de anything – Ok, this isn’t exactly a food but Argentines, especially kids, seem to all eat so much sweet (dulces), especially for la merienda – snacktime. Instead of water, they get coca (coke) or another gaseosa (soda) or jugo (juice). Instead of fruit and vegetables, it’s galletitas and caramelos (candy). I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love this stuff as much as the next kid but, as a parent, it’d be nice to see the custom of giving kids some perhaps healthier snacks once in a while.

5. Mate – Ok, I’ll admit it: I think the mate (strong tea) drinking custom is mad cool. Seeing Argentines carrying around their mate (also the name of the gourd cup it’s drunk out of) and bombilla (metal straw like thing) along with a thermos of hot water may, in fact, be my lasting image of the Argentine people. The social sharing of it all, its omnipresence here is a tradition I just plain envy, frankly. However, my taking part in this tradition would generally have a prerequisite of my actually LIKING mate. Though you can add some sugar, it’s just a bitter, bitter drink that I just can’t get into. Heck, I don’t mind regular flavored tea or anything but the mate just makes my mouth cringe and, though I’d SO like to be a part of the custom, I just honestly can’t if I don’t really like the drink. ¡Qué lástima!

There are other things, of course, that I don’t like about food in Argentina (like the fact that there’s very little spicy or ethnic cusine here to speak of here) but I think this list of foods pretty much sums up the unpleasantness of the cuisine here for me. (Please don’t shoot me, argentinos!)

3) Dinner and sleep time

With two small children who need to eat and sleep, one of the big decisions we had to make upon coming to Argentina was whether we were going to adapt to the Argentine night-time kids’ rituals… which are:

5-6 PM – Hora del té/merienda – tea, snack time (see “dulce de anything” above)

9 – 10 PM – la cena – dinnertime

10 PM (or later) – kids (little kids included) go to bed… school nights

Well, we quickly decided that, especially considering we knew that we were going to be here the better part of only 1 year, that we weren’t going to adapt to this and that we were going to do our best to maintain US hours for dinnertime and bedtime which, to us, are:

6 – 6:30 PM – dinner

7:30 – 8 PM – bedtime for the kids

Keep in mind that young kids in Argentina go to school roughly from (and this, of course, may vary) 8 AM until almost 5 PM (though they have a long 1 – 1 1/2 long lunc hour). That’s a LONG day and, frankly, most Argentine kids I’ve encountered around our kids’ bedtime are generally sleep-deprived and usually exhausted but, because of the customs here, their parents keep them up. Heck, we’ve seen lots of little kids (newborn – 7) out with their parents on weekends at midnight or later!  Granted, the parents don’t all like it either, so I’m told, but they just say “It is as it is”. Most of them, honestly, really couldn’t imagine eating dinner when we do.

This is what has happened to us this year

Eating dinner when we do, not surprisingly, isn’t always the easiest thing to do here in Argentina. Since I am the main cook of the house this year, it’s not easy picking up the kids, coming home, cooking dinner to be ready on time and then getting them ready for and then into bed at the rough, scheduled hour. This often, of course, conflicts with the occasional playdate after school, birthday party (they are usually after school) and other event that occasionally happens. Of course, we’ve needed to be a little flexible with this but we are keenly aware that if our kids don’t get the amount of sleep they’re used to, then NOBODY is a happy camper the next day.

A result of these dinner hours is that, of course, when we want to eat dinner, our biggest meal of the day almost all restaurants are closed. Unfortunately, this has meant that takeout hasn’t been much of an option. Even though every place delivers, either the kitchen is closed at the locale or the place itself is closed down. Generally, restaurants don’t reopen for dinner until 8 – 8:30 PM at the EARLIEST. This has meant that I’ve basically had to cook 95% of the dinners this past year and, while I’m proud to say that for the most part I’ve actually COOKED and have NEVER made a frozen meal the entire year, it’s definitely limited the amount of good Argentinean restaurant food we’ve been able to sample. From time to time, of course, we have found places willing to cook for us at that hour (it’s especially hard when we’re on vacation and MUST get take out or eat out) but by and large, eating homecooked dinners at home has been a traditional family gathering for us all and I’m glad we’ve been able to do it. Can’t figure out, though, how the Argentine kids manage!

Keep in mind, however, that despite all of this, being the food lover that I am and the need to find/make food for the family, I’ve been able to eat well and, at the very least keep my family somewhat well nourished (though not as well nourished, I’m sure, as my dietician mother would prefer, I’m sure – sorry mom!) I love food and despite the perceived lacking in quality food staples here in Argentina, there’s always something decent to eat and we, nor most anyone who comes here, is going to starve.

Next week: #1 and #2 things that I won’t miss about Argentina and FINALLY the beginning of the countdown of the things I WILL miss about this wonderful country.

Prof Rabner